The Census Bureau recently released ZIP Code Business Patterns
data for 2011. Economic developers and others can get tables
with the number of establishments, employment, and payroll. The site
shows the number of establishments by size class for even detailed
industries within a ZIP Code, but not employment for industry. The
coding of businesses is different than that of the Employment
Development Department, though both groups use the same industry code
system.

A job openings feature was added to O*NET OnLine. One can
now search for job openings on the Web from Summary, Details, and
Custom report pages. Select a state and find job listings using
mySkills myFuture, or access state and national job banks using
CareerOneStop.

In 2012, CCSF participated in a pilot research study on CTE
Employment Outcomes. The research was conducted by the RP Group and
surveyed both "completers" and "leavers" from
CCSF's CTE programs. The following documents summarize the findings
from this study.

CCSF will be participating in this same research in 2013 and beyond
to provide important data for the college and CTE departments as we
focus on efforts to improve student success and employment
outcomes.

State and System Policies Related to Career Technical Education
(Two New Working Papers)

IHELP has been engaged in a four-part research project on Career and
Technical Education (CTE) in the California Community Colleges. The
project is aimed at identifying ways that state and system policy can
best support the CTE mission so that colleges can be more effective in
helping students earn credentials of value in the workplace and
helping employers and industries in their regions obtain a skilled
workforce. As part of this project, we have identified a number of
problems that we believe could be addressed with selective changes to
state laws and regulations, with several discussed in the two new
working papers. We will draw on these and other working papers to
produce a final report in Spring, 2013 summarizing our findings and
offering a range of possible policy changes.

High School to Community College to Workplace Pathways

This IHELP working paper examines policies that relate
to (1) high school/community college counseling, (2) career pathways
from high school to community college, (3) work-based learning,
employer engagement and apprenticeships and (4) pathways from
noncredit to credit. We identify several problems, examine laws and
regulations related to those problems, and offer suggested policy
changes to address them.

This IHELP working paper examines policies that relate
to accountability in the California Community Colleges, specifically
within the CTE mission. Accountability for student outcomes in
community colleges is complicated due to the fact that students enroll
for a variety of reasons not often collected or maintained by current
data systems. Accountability within the CTE mission is even more
complicated because students may meet their career advancement or
certification goals without earning a certificate or degree. In this
paper, we identify several problems related to accountability, examine
laws and regulations related to those problems, and offer suggested
policy changes to address them.